Creator Interview: Ivan Velez Jr.

It's been quite a long time since I've posted any creator interviews on the site, and I realized I had one with 1990s Ghost Rider writer Ivan Velez Jr. from last year that I never posted on the site!  Thanks to Mr. Velez for answering my questions, he's a class act all around!

How did you get the gig writing Ghost Rider following Howard Mackie’s departure? Were you a fan of the character prior to writing him?

James Felder contacted me while I was doing Static and Blood Syndicate for Milestone. He saw the article about me in the NY Times and thought it would be a good idea to contact me and ask if I wanted to do Ghost Rider. I was very nervous about it at first, since my career at Milestone was ending very quickly, and getting asked to do a Marvel book was something I never thought would happen. I think I betray my age when I tell you I used to read all the 70s Pseudo-Horror titles like Werewolf By Night and Brother Voodoo and, my favorite, Tomb Of Dracula. Ghost Rider was a fun book back then, but it was less of that soap opera that I really enjoyed. When the Ghost Rider reboot happened, I was head first in the indy more-mature titles of the 80s, so while I was aware of the reboot and probably read the first issue, I didn't feel the need to continue.

What inspired the origin story for Noble Kale that you developed throughout your run on the series? 

Well, I read Howard Mackie's run on the series and kinda hated it. It was the Midnight Sons era, and Blade, the movie, was a beloved hit. My writing had been lauded for being progressive and culturally insightful and sensitive before this, and I realized that Ghost Rider might be a very difficult choice for my next comic book run. I tried to make sense of all that macho masculine posing in the book, but then I realized all that testosterone had been the big selling point all along. The continuity was all over the place... with Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch being brothers not really making sense in the timeline... but I tried to find a way to tie everything together so that it, at least, made sense to me.

So I focused on the Ghost Rider. This Spirit Of Vengeance didn't seem to have a personality or soul. He was stored away in a void until he was called, and I felt sorry for him. What kind of existence was that?  So I decided that I would tie Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch (and his sister Barb) together in a bloodline. Noble Kale would be the first Ghost Rider. Since the early GR books dealt a lot with black magic and devils, I would start it the 1600s with the first religious settlers; something akin to Salem just before the witch trials.  I would make him the tragic lover; trying to protect his new and forbidden love, and cursed to do the bidding of the dark lords... yet ending up as the weapon against them. This would give me space to play with that horror lore I loved from the 70s Marvel horror books... but it faltered when the constant revolving roster of pencillers came on. By the time we got the beloved Javier Saltares to return to the book, it was too late. The sales (although sustainable for two years) started to go downhill.  

What were the expectations for your run on the series and do you think you met them during your time writing it?

Well, I was schooled on the Marvel style of writing by 'Prof' Felder, which was PLOT to Art to SCRIPT... which was very different from the DC style of full script to art (with final tweaks). If something was drastically changed in the Marvel book, I had to fix it up with dialogue. The flow was different.  Also, the atmosphere at the offices was very different at Marvel. I was an out gay Puerto Rican man from the Bronx. Outside of George Perez's brilliant art runs (and short writing stints), I found out I was probably the first Latino to write a monthly title there.

A lot of times I didn't seem, well, welcome at those offices. This feeling of alienation would only increase after James Felder left and the new editor came on. There was this new assistant editor who was openly hostile to me.  By then my relationship with Milestone had been broken, and I was feeling vulnerable.  Milestone was like a family home. Marvel was like a hostile workplace where they would spell my name wrong in the advertising, keep me out of company crossovers, exclude me from conventions and tabling, and audibly insult me two feet behind my back. I had to be very careful with my words and actions. The stress was real. Those days, I was gobbling up antidepressants like they were candy. 

What I liked about Marvel heroes back in my day was that they seemed more human. Peter Parker had a very hard time paying his bills, and worried so much about his aunt. To me, that was Danny Kale's situation. He had to go to college, pay his bills, take care of his mom... and deal with all this Ghost Rider mess. Meanwhile, Ole Bonehead was waking up to the reality of his situation and the injustice of his whole existence. I also wanted to beef up that mystical world they lived in... make sure their mythology was a big playground for their stories. Well, I tried. But the first artist left to a bigger title, the editorship was changed and a series of artists got on that didn't quite gel properly with my writing. It was a difficult situation, and our sales started to fall.

Once Javier Saltares got on the book, I could focus on working my way until issue #100 (and then, hopefully, find my way onto another book in another company). The story seemed to be working again, and moved much more quickly. I was beginning to have a little fun with the whole thing. I also enjoyed that fact that with my writing, Javier's pencils and Texiera's inks; Ghost Rider was being put out by three Puerto Rican men. In a time that not many people of color were working at Marvel, this seemed like a big win. I truly think that if we made it to #100, this run of books would have been fondly remembered. I wanted Johnny Blaze to take his rightful place as the Ghost Rider, even if Noble Kale had to sacrifice himself to do it.

I think I spent too much time trying to work with Howard's characters and situations. The whole Midnight Sons was cool... but I should have played with that after I established Noble Kale and his worldbuilding. I loved that we could could tie him with the generations of the Kale bloodline, and even explain why Johnny Blaze had to be another Ghost Rider. I wanted to have the Phantom Rider be Noble's son... but didn't get a chance to do that...  but at least we got to see the WW1 Ghost Rider and even Naomi Kale's version.

How did the comic book market crash affect Ghost Rider and your work on the series? Were you invited to tie the series in with the crossovers of the era, like “Onslaught”?

Nope. The straight up left me out of any crossovers, even though the book had decent enough sales to last two years while others were dropping left and right. I was very disappointed not to be involved because I had such affection for the other Marvel characters. The book lost a lot of sales after the original artists left for a bigger book. The disappointing run of fill-in artists certainly didn't endear the readership to continue. I really regret that my writing wasn't powerful enough to hold it all together.

What stories did you have planned for the series had it not been cancelled with # 94? What did you think about the fan reaction to the final issue going unpublished until 2007?

I wanted Noble to enjoy the life of a superhero for a few issues, but have to return to Hell and deal with the return of Mephisto. Blackheart was, of course, not dead, and possesses Johnny Blaze's body via the hellfire channels. This situation would force an alliance with Noble Kale (and others of the dark realms) in a battle royale versus Mephisto's forces over the final ownership of Hell. Noble was to sacrifice himself in the end (before he went all Angel-Of-Death) to save the world...  leaving Johnny Blaze to willfully become the new Ghost Rider to save his family and his bloodline.

Oh, and I loved that the Finale issue sold out right away. It was critically well received, and a nice nod to Javier's beautiful artwork.